Amir Horowitz, PhD
img_Amir Horowitz
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR | Oncological Sciences
Research Topics
Anti-Tumor Therapy, Autoimmunity, Bioinformatics, Cancer Genetics, Cellular Immunity, Epidemiology, Genetics, HIV/AIDS, Immunology, Infectious Disease, Lymphocytes, Personalized Medicine, Structural Biology, T Cells, Tolerance, Translational Research, Transplantation, Tumorigenesis, Vaccine Development
Multi-Disciplinary Training Area
Cancer Biology [CAB]
Harnessing NK cells for improving cancer immunotherapies
My work has contributed to developing an understanding of adaptive NK cells and their roles in microbial infections and following vaccination and hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). I was the first person to demonstrate adaptive roles for NK cells in vaccine settings as a strategy to potentiate T cell memory. I also pioneered the first studies of human NK cells by mass cytometry (CyTOF) and demonstrated an enormous breadth of phenotypic diversity and functions associated with specific HLA class I and KIR backgrounds. This research has led to the identification and characterization of numerous NK cell subset populations with unique activity and antiviral (and anti-tumor) potential. In summary, based on my record of successful and highly innovative research projects in areas of immunogenetics and the use of CyTOF, next generation sequencing and computational analytics, I am prepared to study how HLA class I mediated education of NK cells and tumor-derived mutations affecting HLA class I expression and antigen presentation determines sensitivity to tumor cells, immunosuppressive elements produced within the tumor microenvironment and the capacity to potentiate antitumor CD8 T cell activity in response to immune checkpoint blockade therapy. Research Lab: http://labs.icahn.mssm.edu/horowitzlab/
Publications

Selected Publications

Author Correction: Gemcitabine and cisplatin plus nivolumab as organ-sparing treatment for muscle-invasive bladder cancer: a phase 2 trial (Nature Medicine, (2023), 29, 11, (2825-2834), 10.1038/s41591-023-02568-1). Matthew D. Galsky, Siamak Daneshmand, Sudeh Izadmehr, Edgar Gonzalez-Kozlova, Kevin G. Chan, Sara Lewis, Bassam El Achkar, Tanya B. Dorff, Jeremy Paul Cetnar, Brock O. Neil, Anishka D’Souza, Ronac Mamtani, Christos Kyriakopoulos, Tomi Jun, Mahalya Gogerly-Moragoda, Rachel Brody, Hui Xie, Kai Nie, Geoffrey Kelly, Amir Horowitz, Yayoi Kinoshita, Ethan Ellis, Yohei Nose, Giorgio Ioannou, Rafael Cabal, Diane M. Del Valle, G. Kenneth Haines, Li Wang, Kent W. Mouw, Robert M. Samstein, Reza Mehrazin, Nina Bhardwaj, Menggang Yu, Qianqian Zhao, Seunghee Kim-Schulze, Robert Sebra, Jun Zhu, Sacha Gnjatic, John Sfakianos, Sumanta K. Pal. Nature Medicine

A novel retinoic acid receptor-γ agonist antagonizes immune checkpoint resistance in lung cancers by altering the tumor immune microenvironment. Cheng Hsin Wei, Lu Huang, Blair Kreh, Xiuxia Liu, Liliya Tyutyunyk-Massey, Masanori Kawakami, Zibo Chen, Mi Shi, Serguei Kozlov, King C. Chan, Thorkell Andresson, Mary Carrington, Vidyasagar Vuligonda, Martin E. Sanders, Amir Horowitz, Patrick Hwu, Weiyi Peng, Ethan Dmitrovsky, Xi Liu. Scientific Reports

Allelic variation of KIR and HLA tunes the cytolytic payload and determines functional hierarchy of NK cell repertoires. Camille Philippon, Sudan Tao, Dennis Clement, Alvaro Haroun-Izquierdo, Katherine M. Kichula, Herman Netskar, Ludwig Brandt, Vincent Sheng Oei, Minoru Kanaya, Pilar Maria Lanuza, Marie Schaffer, Jodie P. Goodridge, Amir Horowitz, Faming Zhu, Quirin Hammer, Ebba Sohlberg, Rakesh Kumar Majhi, Lise Kveberg, Björn Önfelt, Paul J. Norman, Karl Johan Malmberg. Blood advances

View All Publications

Physicians and scientists on the faculty of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai often interact with pharmaceutical, device, biotechnology companies, and other outside entities to improve patient care, develop new therapies and achieve scientific breakthroughs. In order to promote an ethical and transparent environment for conducting research, providing clinical care and teaching, Mount Sinai requires that salaried faculty inform the School of their outside financial relationships.

Below are financial relationships with industry reported by Dr. Horowitz during 2023 and/or 2024. Please note that this information may differ from information posted on corporate sites due to timing or classification differences.

Consulting or Other Professional Services: Examples include, but are not limited to, committee participation, data safety monitoring board (DSMB) membership

  • HTG molecular
  • Immunorizon

Mount Sinai's faculty policies relating to faculty collaboration with industry are posted on our website. Patients may wish to ask their physician about the activities they perform for companies.